Best of the Week: Form is Cognition

     These last few weeks, we've focused a great deal on how the explicit and implicit styles in which an author explains a concept, event, or feeling can largely influence and contribute to the core of that concept, event, or feeling itself. In other words, we've picked apart the aspects of "Form is Content" and readily applied it to our reading of The Kite Runner.  The surface connection between form and content is explained, in literary terms, this way: "...in any actual work there can be no content that has not in some way been formed, and no purely empty form." In class, we've also talked about some of the ways form affects content--fragmented sentences, repetition, sensory details, tense and point of view.

     Hosseini's goal, through manipulation of form, is to strengthen our emotional commitment and connection with the book. While he writes the book with that one goal in mind, the affects of his unique form branch off in two directions; content, and deeper level, cognition. One example of this duality lies in the contrast between two passages, on pages 121 and 122. On page 121, Amir is panicking because he's barely able to breathe in the stuffy oil truck.         

     "PANIC. You open your mouth. Open it so wide your jaws creak. You order your lungs to draw air, NOW, you need air, need it NOW. But your airways ignore you. They collapse, tighten, squeeze...", (121). Here, the reader can almost feel the pain Amir does, the frightening reality the reader would never want to find himself in, but which keeps him reading. As we discussed in class, the fact that the novel shifts from past tense to present tense slows down the book, and entirely shifts the mood. The repetition of "now", "you", and "air" underscores Amir's frantic thoughts. Overall, all of the sensory details that are included in this passage do not simply build an emotional connection to the reader, but rather "engulf" the reader, for lack of better word.

     On page 122, however, Baba tells Amir to calm down and think of something "good. Something happy." As a result, the mood drastically changes.

     "A breeze stirs the grass and Hassan lets the spool roll. The kite spins, dips, steadies. Our twin shadows dance on the rippling grass. From somewhere over the low brick wall at the other end of the field, we hear laughter and the chirping of a water fountain", (122-23). The form Hosseini used to write this passage not only affects content but also cognition. As far as content, the sentences here seem to flow, and his thoughts roll along. The words, "breeze, roll, steadies, grass" symbolize the natural and carefree nature of the environment. Now, sitting in the musty oil truck, this fantasy settles in as a compilation of the happiest moments of his life--an oversimplification of his Afghan life instigated only by the horrid nature of the oil truck and recent hits to his emotional health. 

     This concept is very true in our society today--sometimes, we take our health, family, and life conditions for granted, but when disaster strikes, we really realize what we lost or could lose. Throughout our lives before the disaster or conflict, we may have been very unhappy, but when one aspect of our lives crumbles we view the past as golden, as wonderful and almost perfect. However, the superficial comfort the memories provide us with are only temporary; at one point we realize that life wasn't all that perfect, and is much less perfect with the onset of conflict. The only thing that can keep us moving is an acknowledgment of the past, the present, and the will and optimism to move forward. 

     In the back of our heads, our cognition recognizes this, and pushes us to read on and see whether Amir will face himself and move forward, given the innocence of America, or live in the past when faced with problems in the present, as is happening now. The way in which Hosseini clues us in on the inner workings of Amir's brain and his cognition, in turn touch our cognition, mentally connecting us to the story.

     Our connection through cognition also establishes an emotional connection with Amir. We have all been at a point in our lives when bad thing after bad thing happens, and we seek security in the arms of the past. We also may feel sorry for him, for the burden he must carry in his heart, that his "brother" moved away, and the fact that he has to flee his homeland. There might also be a bit of anger mixed in, as we feel he must face himself sooner or later, or at least summon the courage to survive what's happening to him, as opposed to ignoring the present and dwelling in the few happy times of his childhood.